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Let me explain this in more detail. We have a somewhat crazy amount of knifemakers flocking over from the dead world of custom hunter/bowie knifemaking, coming here looking to get into what is the only growth market in the knife business - kitchen knives. The problem isn't that this is happening but it's the volume that is being seen and more importantly the attitudes and actions that we get from these guys that has me reacting the way that I am.

Too many are expecting (and even demanding) to do their thing as they want to, they violate our guidelines (Terms of Use), they argue about this when asked to comply, they send unsolicited PM's to members regarding their wares/services, and when asked to contribute they have every excuse in the book and even deep resentment and insults to share with me. For myself, as the forum owner, having to deal with this constantly (almost every damn day) is more than I can take, more than I'm willing to take any longer.

These people have negatively effected the community. They've caused vendor rates to increase, they've strained me personally, and I'm no longer willing to assess each member on a case by case basis. I'm sick and tired of fighting with these guys and because of this I'm making changes that I wish to avoid but yet find necessary to do.

So from now on if a member is known to be involved in any related business then they have a choice to make - they can either be a restricted member or contribute their fair share as a vendor or hobbyist. I realize that this isn't ideal and will turn some people away. I don't wish to lose a single member over this issue but if we have to lose a member who is causing a strain then I can live with that. I'm sorry to say this but it's the honest truth about how I feel.

I agree with Dave.

For folks whose primarily interest has always been kitchen knives, the influx of crossovers is a bit discouraging. In a close-knit community sometimes people are reluctant to come with a constructed criticism (or by rules are not allowed to), so it is hard tell who is who. In the pictures all knives look great. Review section helps somewhat.

I am not saying that it is affecting me personally, but this is a trend that I have been observing for some time now.